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Teaching Resource

In the 1940s America was in the throes of a crippling depression and a world war. While all Americans coped with the overwhelming challenges that the economy and war presented, some Americans faced an additional hardship, oppressive segregation. Legal segregation—Jim Crow as it was informally known, defined every aspect of life for those who lived under its restrictions. Popular culture, specifically professional baseball, was not excluded from the effects of Jim Crow. The story of the integration of professional...

Teaching Resource

On April 15, 1947, 27,000 fans packed Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York, to watch the Dodgers' new first baseman take to the field. They came to watch a baseball game, and they came to see a talented 28-year-old rookie, Jackie Robinson, become part of history.

Jackie Robinson is widely known and celebrated as the man who smashed the color barrier in baseball. He became the fearless standard bearer who represented the hopes and dream of black Americans. However, he did not simply turn this page in...